Chapter 22: System
Jiang Yang was stunned for a moment and, looking like he had just seen a ghost, he immediately denied: “Of course not! What are you talking about?! Did you forget to take your medicine?”
After that, as if he was afraid that he would continue saying something even more outrageous, he turned around and walked off very quickly.
Qin Xu couldn’t help but laugh at this. Thinking that he was probably escaping because he was flustered from his intentions being discovered, he followed behind Jiang Yang and, instead of walking beside him, he purposely ensured that he walked a few steps behind him.
The clear sounds of his footsteps following behind Jiang Yang obviously could not be ignored. This only made him walk even faster as if he was trying to hide from him.
Qin Xu leisurely followed behind. His conclusion that Jiang Yang liked him naturally wasn’t something he had randomly pulled out of a hat. He came to this conclusion after thinking over it for a long time and observing him secretly. Why didn’t he realise before that Jiang Yang is bent? The fact that he liked Wu Tong must have actually been a camouflage for him and every time he tried to disturb them it was because he was jealous and didn’t want to see him get close to Wu Tong. For him to do all those things so secretly yet act so arrogantly, it was natural that he would only be able to notice his feelings after paying close attention.
Thinking this, a pleasant smile formed on his lips and, without himself even noticing, he walked up the stairs with a slight spring in his step while humming a small tune.
Jiang Yang turned the corner of the staircase and saw Qin Xu acting like that. He couldn’t help but feel even more complicated. He felt like that guy was purposely making fun of him. Just seeing those happy footsteps of his, it was obvious. Otherwise, why would he be acting like a happy idiot?
And so, at this moment Jiang Yang had a face filled with dissatisfaction. He one-sidedly accused Qin Xu of something he didn’t do.
Qin Xu who didn’t know this looked on at him innocently.
Before they reached the classroom, the bell indicating the start of class rang. They hurried back to class before the teacher arrived and barely made it.
During class, Qin Xu tried to talk to Jiang Yang several times but every time he was ignored. Qin Xu naturally thought that he was angry out of embarrassment and would eventually calm back down. But, in fact, it was a very normal reaction from Jiang Yang to ignore him. After getting played around by him earlier and even scaring him to the point that he lost his coke to who-knows-where, he was naturally embarrassed and wouldn’t want to give an ounce of attention to the culprit.
Earlier, Qin Xu only wanted to look for Jiang Yang to talk and didn’t have the time to buy lunch and was tempted when Xie Zhe asked him if he wanted to go with him to buy ice cream once class ended. Since Jiang Yang was ignoring him, he thought it was okay to step away for a moment.
When he reached the school store and was rummaging through the freezer choosing the flavour, he suddenly thought of Jiang Yang. Should he buy one for him as well? But very quickly, he laughed and shook that thought off. Just because he found out that Jiang Yang didn’t hate him, why is he acting so happy? If he isn’t careful and accidentally gave Jiang Yang hope, what should he do then?
After paying the bill, he and Xie Zhe walked out the school store and prepared to head back to the classroom.
Without a warning, an mechanical sound appeared in his mind.
“Friendship system binding is complete. Qin Xu, 17 years old. The target is Jiang Yang. Random task: Please buy something for your good friend Jiang Yang to eat. Any snack is okay. Time limit is five minutes. As it is your first task, there is a guide but there are penalties if you fail to complete it. Please complete the task as soon as possible.”
Qin Xu froze. Thinking that something was wrong with his hearing, he looked around and even suspected that Xie Zhe was playing around with him. However, he only saw Xie Zhe eating his ice-cream cone while asking him with a confused expression: “Xu brother, why are you suddenly stopping? Did you drop something?”
Qin Xu frowned: “Did you hear anything just then?”
Xie Zhe was confused even more: “…..What?”
Confirming that he wasn’t pretending, Qin Xu decided to dismiss it and continue walking ahead. However, the moment he tried to move, he realised that his feet couldn’t move! He forcefully tried to move his feet and struggled around but the soles of his feet remained stuck on the ground as if it was glued down with superglue. As he struggled around he realised that he could only move back.
After contemplating over it for a second, he decided to try following what the voice earlier said. He pushed his ice cream cone over to Xie Zhe and said: “Wait. I’m going to go buy something.”
He turned back to the school store and headed over to the freezer. Just as he bent down to grab a cone the so-called system’s mechanical voice once again sounded in his mind, “Friendly reminder: Jiang Yang likes the matcha flavoured ice cream.”
Hearing this, Qin Xu became even more certain that the system is similar to a game guide. It would speak according to its pre-established settings and release tasks, and only he could hear it.
He contemplated over this as he picked up the matcha flavoured cone. Even if the system didn’t remind him, he already knew what to get. He already knew that he and Jiang Yang liked the same flavoured ice-cream and didn’t need any reminders. Currently, what he was more concerned about was what the purpose of this mysterious thing is and whether it was harmful to his health.
In the next second, as if the system could hear his inner thoughts, it said, “My mission is just to make you and Jiang Yang good friends. I will absolutely not cause any harm to you. Please rest assured.”
Qin Xu lined up to pay and frowned. He asked internally, “Can you read my thoughts?”
The system replied: “No. If it is confusion regarding the task then I will be able to detect it.”
Qin Xu continued to ponder over things until he walked back to Xie Zhe’s side while holding onto a cone. He heard him ask: “Xu brother, you wanted to eat two?”
Qin Xu nonchalantly responded: “No, I bought it for Jiang Yang.”
Xie Zhe was surprised. It looks that their relationship is indeed improving. Although it was a pity that he would no longer see them at their wits end when facing each other, he still hoped for them to reconcile.
He gave the cone back to Qin Xu and together they returned to the classroom.
The ice cream cone was bought but the problem was whether or not Jiang Yang would accept it.
In Jiang Yang’s perspective, when someone who had just played around with him suddenly offers him an ice cream, he naturally suspected that he had bad intentions. He wouldn’t be surprised if he squeezed toothpaste or something similar inside, so he resolutely refused his offer.
The moment he refused, another classmate next to him said that he wanted it, so Qin Xu handed it over. Jiang Yang secretly peeked at the classmate through the corner of his eyes and saw that the other party had no reaction and ate it very normally. Seeing this, he found things to be even more strange. Why would Qin Xu suddenly buy him ice cream for no reason? Was it to pay him back for the breakfast he bought for him? It wasn’t necessary for him to do that. After all, it was only because of the task and he basically didn’t eat it.
An ice-cream come is not big and with a few bites, it was finished. With his mouth cooled down, he felt very refreshed. Despite Qin Xu feeling a little unhappy seeing that Jiang Yang did not accept his gift, he didn’t dwell on it for too long. He crumpled up the wrapping paper and threw it away before talking out his mobile phone.
But the moment the classmate finished eating his one, an mechanical sound appeared in Qin Xu’s mind: “Task failed. Punishment of one hour of voice changing.”
Qin Xu was very immersed in the game and was very surprised when he heard the voice in his head. In surprise, he blurted out: “Fuck! What is this!”
But he instantly found out that his voice had really changed. It was sharp and shrill with also a hint of crispness within. It couldn’t be said to be a bad voice, but it also definitely was not on par to his original low voice!
Qin Xu was dumbfounded. This was then followed with anger. What was worse was that he didn’t control his volume just now and some of the students nearby heard it. Someone wondered out loud: “Who’s using Minions as their ringtone? Why do I hear swearing, fuck?”
He looked curiously in the direction of the sound and saw that it was in Qin Xu’s direction. The moment he met his gaze, he laughed, “Xu brother, are you using Minion…”
In the next second his face was slapped. Qin Xu pressed a button on his phone and it suddenly started playing the cheerful sound of Minion’s singing Banana. The room instantly fell into eerie silence.
The male student saw Qin Xu’s cold and dissatisfied expression and couldn’t help but feel like he could see some words written on his face – So what if I use it? Do you have a problem with it?
Under his oppressive gaze, the male student felt cold sweat down his back. He quickly waved his hand to show that he had no issues with it and stepped back while secretly cursing at Qin Xu’s temper. Qin Xu, on the other hand, also had cold sweat form across his forehead. He anxiously pursed his lips, afraid that he would let out a sound and ruin his reputation.
Earlier Qin Xu was to lazy to care about the system but now that he is subjected to the punishment, he couldn’t help but pay attention to it. If it could have the ability to change his voice, he realised that it could do worse things in the future.
One hour. Qin Xu etched this into his memory, threw aside the game, and instantly noted down the time onto his notebook. He strongly reminded himself not to make any sound before time is up.
With his mouth unable to speak, he instead became talkative internally and began harassing the system.
“If you want me to become good friends with Jiang Yang, it is actually a very simple matter. My relationship with him is originally not bad. You don’t need to assign tasks or anything. If you do, you might even make things worse. You should listen to me. Although I don’t know who created you, but your settings are too rigid. Humans are actually very complicated and it’s useless of you to assign tasks like this. I can do it myself, I don’t need to bother you so hurry and get rid of this punishment of yours. If he heard my voice now, he would definitely laugh to death. How can I be friends with him after embarrassing myself? Do you understand what I am saying?”
Qin Xu chattered on and, at the beginning, the system wanted to explain things but eventually it became annoyed and just fell silent. Qin Xu was only speaking internally and therefore wasn’t tired, so he did his best to chatter on and torture the system.
Finally, the system spoke up. It was as if it wanted to transfer his attention to something else so that it wouldn’t be tortured anymore.
“Random task: Please compliment Jiang Yang without repeating yourself. Time limit of one minute. If you fail, the voice change penalty will be extended to 24 hours.”
Qin Xu heard this and instantly lost his desire to annoy the system. With his voice at its state now, he naturally didn’t dare say anything to Jiang Yang, so he asked the system if he could just write it out. He then wrote down three sentences without hesitation and passed it over to Jiang Yang. He even nudged him a few times using his pen, urging him to read.
Jiang Yang frowned. Facing his eager gaze, he hesitated for a moment before looking down at the note. On the note was Qin Xu’s elegant handwriting – You are so handsome! So smart! The best!
Jiang Yang: “…………..” WTF.
The author has something to say:
Jiang Yang (with a look of disgust): This person must be sick.
